A great game indeed, but not for everyone.
GRAPHICS
NWN graphics are great, even for today's standards (how much do graphics really matter in an RPG anyway?) It had some great animations, especially in the fight sequences, which was my favorite part of the game. The environments were all carefully constructed, and armor and weapon designs were pretty creative, although I've seen better.
However, no matter how carefully the developers constructed the world, it doesn't change that fact that it is bleak and dreary all the time. The background music didn't help either. I enjoy games that make me feel good, and has some optimistic moments as well as thrilling moments to it. The NWN world was constantly grey gloomy and made me feel like I was part of a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Even the cities didn't look welcome, and the NPCs give the world an even more miserable tone. This is only my personal opinion, so I don't know if you mind such things.
GAMEPLAY
Now, this is where I had a few problems with the game, but you may or may not have the same issues. I never seemed to get over the learning curve. Perhaps I just never put enough time and effort into playing, but I never understood how to do a lot of the things in game. I couldn't figure out how spells worked, and I didn't know anything about the D&D 3.0 ruleset, which the game uses. I also couldn't ever figure out how to get better equipment for my character. I know that there is a crafting skill and enchantment ability in the game, but I couldn't figure out how to do any of it.
It also seemed to me that there isn't very much variability in the armors and weapons available in the game. Again, I'm probably missing something, but every shop that I found sold basically the same things. There wasn't much improvement going on, and magically enchant items were all terribly expensive. I was never able to earn more than a few thousand gold at a time by collecting item drops, and I ended up spending most of it on potions. Without enough funds, I couldn't get the better armor, and so the game was really hard for me.
STORY
The storyline of Neverwinter Nights is truly great. It is ridiculously complicated and immersive, and there are loads of side quests that you can embark on apart from the main objective. One of the complaints that I have in this area is that there is too much dialogue. If you paid attention to every detail of the game, you would spend about half your time talking to the NPCs. The small text really gets annoying for a while, as I just wanted to get into the action and do things.
CONCLUSION
This game is worth a shot, in my opinion. It has a lot to offer, but maybe it was my fault and I didn't know what to do with the offer. NWN has been rated highly everywhere, and that must happen for a reason, right? Perhaps you'll discover that reason when I didn't.